Realistically, there's no one-size-fits-all course of action after a commercial 18-wheeler accident. What you do afterward may depend largely on the severity of the wreck; if it resulted in property damage or just minor injuries, most likely you can handle it on your own via an insurance claim. If you receive more serious injuries—brain damage, paralysis, or severe burns, for example—that would likely be a whole different matter. So after a serious 18-wheeler crash, what steps should an injured victim take?

Answer: A truck accident victim should seek immediate medical attention for serious injuries and contact an attorney as soon as possible, or have a trusted family member do so on their behalf.

It's also important to mention something a truck accident victim should not do: Whatever the circumstances, the victim should not talk about fault with anyone (including the truck driver, witnesses, and insurance investigators) before speaking with an attorney. With that in mind, let's look more closely at what they should do.

Seek Medical Attention First

When people talk about "recovering" from a serious truck accident, they likely mean that word in two ways: First, their physical health and recuperating from their injuries, and second, making sure the person or people who caused the accident are held accountable.

First and foremost comes their health. Over decades of working on truck accident cases, we've seen the devastating effects those wrecks can have. Among the most life-altering injuries victims receive in a major commercial accident are:

• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Severe Burns
• Crush Injury/Amputation
• Organ Damage

That's far from a complete list, but those and other catastrophic injuries would need immediate medical intervention, so a truck accident victim should always have get evaluated and treated. Think of it like this: Your health and well-being should always be your top priority. No one can hold a trucking company liable for their injuries the exact same day as their accident; that process takes time. However, you can look after your health right away, and in the end that's most important.

However, that's not to say that getting patched up and seeking accountability are mutually exclusive—just that delaying the first makes the second harder. For example, waiting to get medical help could provide the trucking companies' defense attorneys with ammunition to cast doubt on your case: "They didn't even go to the emergency room for a week! How bad can their injuries really be?"

Moreover, a hospital or doctor visit can serve an important legal purpose: Records of diagnosis and treatment can be critical for making a claim against the truck driver and their employer. The records show exactly when a victim's injuries occurred, their magnitude, and how they were treated, which helps if a trucking company tries to call any of that into question. They may still try a hundred other tactics to avoid liability, however, which is why it's important to get in touch with an attorney.

Attorneys Are Already Involved in Any Serious 18-Wheeler Accident

I understand the skepticism some may feel when they see an attorney saying "You need a lawyer for this kind of crash," but it's true. Most people usually try to handle what they can on their own, and they're especially reluctant to be "one of those people who file lawsuits." However, I'd suggest looking at it another way: In every serious 18-wheeler accident I've litigated throughout my career, the trucking company sent their own attorneys to the scene just as quickly as one could get there. If the company "lawyers up" like that, they obviously believe legal representation is in their best interests. What interests are those? Well, put bluntly, they're mostly interested in paying you as little as possible for the damage their reckless employee caused.

Even with that knowledge, some people may try to go it on their own. For most, that would probably mean reaching out to their insurance company and then waiting for a resolution. Adjustors will investigate, but they're only doing that to figure out how little they can get away with paying. They'll almost all tell you "We'll work this out, no need to get attorneys involved," but that's really just a smokescreen to keep you at a disadvantage.

Realistically, the appropriate question after a serious 18-wheeler accident isn't "Should I get an attorney involved?" Rather, it's "Do I want to be the only one without a lawyer looking out for my interests?"

How Do I Hire an Attorney?

I don't know how other firms do it, but here's how Grossman Law works: Just call us toll-free at the number all over this website and get a free, no-hassle consultation. Those too overwhelmed with recovery to make that first call can have a trusted friend or relative contact us on their behalf, and we can get the ball rolling that way. If your situation sounds like something we can help with, we'll send out a one-page contract that you sign to hire us as your representatives. Once you sign that, we get to work—and if you don't like what we do for you, the contract also says you can fire us at any time.

That's how we've done business for more than three decades, and in that time we've handled hundreds of commercial truck accident cases. If you were hurt or lost a loved one in any kind of accident with an 18-wheeler, including one that blew a tire, call Grossman Law any time.